A market exists for the distribution of advertising and other information over data communications and entertainment networks. A non-limiting example is insertion of advertising copy supplied by advertisers, for appearance on web pages, content offered by media distributors such as news and information services, internet service providers, and suppliers of products related to the advertiser's products or services.
Despite the current economic forecasts, the surge in marketing budgets being diverted into digital media continues unfettered. Digital media offers marketers a rapid, highly targeted, interactive, measurable and cost effective route to target consumers, something that may become even more important in times of uncertainty. With huge volumes of webpages being created daily, bringing with them a similar surge of new inventory, online publishers may seek to maximize their yields right across their properties by monetizing both their premium and unsold inventory. At the same time, the inventory may help online advertisers' source new opportunities to target their audience.
This growth is taking place in an environment of continuing media and audience fragmentation. However, it is the increasing complexities of reaching audiences that has driven the emergence of online advertising exchanges to provide efficiencies and reduce the complexities in an incredibly dynamic environment. Hundreds of millions of websites and huge volumes of online advertising are communicated around the world every day.